Chuck Vs the Dream
by Blackadder VII
Summary: Post-Season 5 Chuck Bartowski is a broken man. The woman he loves has forgotten the love they once shared, his team is scattered and now his mind is destroyed. For Chuck to become whole again, he must reassemble himself with the help of a Doctor. Multiple crossovers, not just Doctor Who.
1. Chapter 1

**Chuck vs. the Dream Prologue**

**Blurb: Post-Season 5 Chuck Bartowski is a broken man. The woman he loves has forgotten the love they once shared, his team is scattered and now his mind is destroyed. For Chuck to become whole again, he must reassemble himself with the help of a Doctor. Multiple crossovers, not just Doctor Who.**

**After watching the entire series of Chuck I thought I'd devise a story that takes the main character back to his roots and by the end of the story makes him more awesome than ever. **

Prologue

Charles Irving Bartowski, known to his friend as 'Chuck' woke up. His eyes fluttered open to the bright morning sun which filtered in through his bed room window. Comic books scattered the room, while the movie posters of Tron and Dune were plastered on either side of the room. Chuck's bed room was most defiantly, a nerd's bedroom. Chuck sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to remember. But Chuck couldn't remember, he couldn't remember anything. Chuck was a tall slender man with tanned skin, brown hair and brown eyes. The door flew open and Chuck jumped as a stranger wearing a bowtie strolled in carrying a breakfast tray.

"Good Morning Chuck, I made breakfast. No bacon in the cupboard, so you will just have to make do with eggs Benedict, toast and tea" proclaimed the stranger, placing the tray on Chuck's lap.

Chuck was amazed at the absolute absurdly of the man, with his floppy hair and his tweed jacket.

The stranger then proceeded to grab Chuck's desk chair and rolled it over to Chuck's bedside. He then placed his backside on the chair at the same time placing his feet, boots and all onto Chuck's bed.

"Err I don't drink tea" stammered a confused Chuck.

The stranger beamed.

"I hoped that would be the case" said the Doctor grabbing the steaming cup of tea.

He slipped the warm liquid and gave a sigh of satisfaction.

"Americans with all your American-ness never had a real appreciation of tea. Suppose it's my fault really, never should have encouraged you lot to push the all tea overboard at Boston. I'm guessing you're more of a coffee person" explained the Doctor.

"Yeah, I'm a coffee man. This may sound strange but who are you and what are you doing house? Not that I mind the eggs or the tea in bed it's just awkward coming bowtie wearing man who I have never met before" said Chuck.

The strangers grin widened in apparent delight.

"Ah questions, all of those are brilliant questions. But you're not asking the right ones. Like what are you doing in bed fully clothed? You know your names Chuck Bartowski but how much else do you remember" explained the stranger.

Chuck looked down at himself and realized the stranger was right. Instead of wearing his usual bed clothes Chuck was wearing a white collared shirt with a grey tie. He removed the sheets to discover he was wearing long black pants with a pair of matching black convert sneakers.

"To answer your earlier question I am the Doctor, l will be your dream guardian for this evening. Well technically speaking I'm more of your spiritual guide and pathfinder, ushering you through the locations in the dreamscape you need to see. So call me the Doctor or the Guide, whichever takes you fancy" the Doctor revealed.

Chuck smiled a clearly nervous smile that wrinkled his nose.

"Next you're going to say you're the ghost of Christmas past and you're going to show me the error of my evil ways before I get coal in my stocking" joked Chuck.

The Doctor frowned.

"That would be absolutely ridiculous Chuck that only ever happens at Christmas time. Anyway the situation is a ton more desperate, if we don't succeed this will not be a dream you will wake up from" explained the Doctor.

Chuck's smile melted off his face like ice in the sun as the import of the Doctors words hit Chuck. Had no memory of who he was and the Doctor's words seemed to ring true.

"Wait, I'm dreaming? I do have really vivid dreams but I don't remember falling asleep. I... can't" stammered Chuck.

"Who is Luke Skywalker's father" asked the Doctor?

"Darth Vader of course" retorted Chuck.

"See, you can remember certain things of course. I bet you could even tell me who is Spiderman's current girlfriend, even who the current President is. You've just lost the important memories, the memories that make you Chuck. You know a wise man once said a man is the sum of his memories"

The Doctor got up from the desk chair, strolled over to the dresser and replaced his tea cup for a framed photograph.

"This memory will fill in gap or two, fingers and toes crossed".

The Doctor showed Chuck the picture and he could not help but stare. Stare at the incredibly beautiful woman at the centre of the photograph. She had long blond hair, blue dreamy eyes and had a smile that could make the sun rise. A feeling came over Chuck, a familiar feeling. Like this photo was the key that had slotted something into place. Like being struck by lightning, Chuck's mind suddenly was filled with images.

_The picture of a computer / a brown headed woman in medical scrubs/ a small man with spikey brown hair and a beard/ a man also in medical scrubs, muscle bound and blond headed with a bubble of awesomeness/ the university of Stanford/ the logo of an electronic store; the Buy More/ the beautiful woman from the photo sitting beside him on a beach._

Chuck gasped, his mind processing the images he'd seen and converting them into memories.

"I just flashed" cried Chuck!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chuck vs. the Dream Chapter 01**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all the people who have written reviews or followed this story, I greatly appreciate it.**

**BlueNeutrino: You'll enjoy this **

**Berykent: Thank, I been trying to design a premise for a Doctor Who and Chuck for a while. The dream angle was the best one I came up with. I'm glad you enjoy it.**

Chapter 01 Geronimo

"Whew, I hoped that would work. I deducted it would either jog memory or cause a cerebral aneurysm. It would have been really awkward if it had been the aneurysm" confided the Doctor.

His mind boiling with new memories, Chuck wasn't paying full attention. He could remember is days at Stanford University with Bryce Larkin and later being betrayed and expelled. Then being forced to get a job as a Nerd Herder at the Buymore with his best friend Morgan Grimes, while he was living with sister Ellie and her boyfriend, the awesome Devon Woodcombe in an apartment in Burbank California. The Intersect, the government computer with all the secrets that people were willing to kill for all of which were downloaded into his head.

"I flashed, like an Intersect flash" said Chuck.

"Ah the Intersect, a computer that encodes all its information into a set of images that can be download into the human brain. With the right stimulus the information can be accessed through a 'flash', which gives the user the info they need. The CIA and NSA used a intersect network to store all their intelligence, a rather clever idea. The 'flash' you just experienced was something familiar to you. Since you accidentally downloaded intersect network into your cerebral cortex, a flash is something familiar. In dreams the mind will cling to the familiar, hence the reason I am talking to you in your bedroom. Your mind chose to interpret the release of old memories as a 'flash'. This is good; it means your mind hasn't yet given up. There is still life in the old brain yet and when there's life there's hope" explained the Doctor.

Chuck gave the Doctor the time out signal with his hands.

"Wait, if I'm dreaming and my mind is clinging to the familiar stuff then why are you here? Why not my sister or Morgan" Chuck questioned?

The Doctor rubbed his hands and beaming at Chuck.

"I don't know, maybe you have a secret love of bowties, maybe I am amalgamation of qualities you find familiar, or maybe I'm just the odd one out" babbled the Doctor, clearly avoiding the question.

"We'll just have to find out, together. Best to start at the beginning, what is the last thing you remember" asked the Doctor?

Chuck brushed his hair back, going through his recently recovered memories.

"I was on a beach with the mysterious beautiful blonde woman. She asked me to kiss her and well after some kissing, we stared off into the sunset. An then...then somebody shot me in the back with tranc dart. Hey you said that I'd get my memory back but there are still blanks. I don't know who that woman who kissed me on that beach is, although I don't why. How could I forget a beautiful woman like that? She's clearly out of my league" babbled Chuck.

"I said it would fill some gaps, one of five gaps to be precious. That's why I'm the guide, I guide you to your next memory" replied the Doctor, springing into action.

The Doctor removed the breakfast tray and pulled Chuck from the bed, to his feet.

"So that's what we are going to do Chuck. I am going to guide you through the dreamscape, reclaim your memories so you can become you again and then you Chuck will wake up and get the girl" proclaimed the Doctor!

The Doctor grabbed Chuck by the shoulders and dragged him bodily towards the bedroom door. When the Doctor opened the door there was someone waiting to meet them, a whole crowd of someone's.

A band of ninja's covered from head to toe in black, each welding Samurai swords and were looking dangerous. The Doctor was quick to slam the door in their faces and place his back against the wooden door.

"Ah looks like there will be a slight delay on the reclaiming of memories due to those band of scary gentlemen. Wait a minute, what do call men dressed in leotards, armed with medieval Japanese weapons, I forget" asked the Doctor?

"Err heavy armed Ninja's" replied Chuck!

The door started to rattle as the ninjas started pounding on it from the other side. The Doctor slapped a hand to his head.

"Of course, I always forget about the Ninjas. A couple gave me a nasty surprise back in medieval Japan. I've never known them to be so enthusiastic" said the Doctor.

"Wait why are there ninjas in my house if I'm dreaming" asked Chuck?

"Ever a had dreams about ninjas before" asked the Doctor?

"Not dreams, just nightmares after Morgan hosted a Ninja movie marathon night" explained Chuck.

"Hence the Ninjas incursion into your dream" the Doctor clarified.

The pounding became more frenzied as the ninjas threatened to smash the door off its hinges.

"Don't just stand there Chuck, I could use a bit help over here" yelled the Doctor!

"Right, help" muttered Chuck.

Chuck placed both hands on the door, putting all his weight and strength against the door to little effect.

"Come on Chuck, push" demanded the Doctor!

"I am pushing; my bedroom door just wasn't built to hold back a horde of angry ninjas" responded Chuck, starting to panic.

It was then that a katana pieced through the wood of the door, stopping a few inches short of Chuck's crouch.

"DOCTOR, this isn't working" cried Chuck!

"That only leaves option B, I think you'll like option B" offered the Doctor.

"What's option B" pleaded a much panicked Chuck?

"Basically RUN" announced the Doctor!

Grabbing the desk chair, the Doctor jammed it under the door handle preventing it from opening. The Doctor bounded away from the door and made for the back window with Chuck following right behind him. The window opened easy and was big enough for a man to fit through.

Any thoughts about this not being a dream quickly evaporated when Chuck saw what was beyond the window. Instead of the courtyard with the fountain at the centre, there was a purple vortex. It shimmered and spiralled making it very hypnotic to look at.

"There's our escape route, all we need is to jump into it and the vortex will do the rest" stated the Doctor.

"You've got to be kidding me, no way am I going to leapt into the equivalent of a flushing toilet" cried Chuck!

"Chuck, I never joke about escape routes or purple vortexes. Now, GERONIMO" proclaimed the Doctor, as he jumped from the window and was caught up in the vortex!

Chuck sighed and shook his head; there was no way he was going to jump into that. The door burst open and the ninjas stormed in, charging towards Chuck. Their swords drawn and murderous intent in their eyes, all of it directed towards Chuck. One of the ninjas stopped to throw a couple of ninja throwing stars at Chuck. On reflex Chuck ducked, and the throwing stars narrowly missed him. Chuck didn't stop to think about it, he launched himself from the window and into the vortex.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chuck vs. the Dream Chapter 02**

**A new chapter and a new crossover, I hope you enjoy my choice.**

**BlueNeutrino: Technically there are two stories playing out in this one story. The Doctor's story and Chuck story, they just intersect in this dream. Both of them have different missions and both have to save the world. I'm being subtle about it at the moment but more will be revealed in further chapters.**

Chapter 02 Stuck in a Sci-fi Horror with a Space Cowboy

Chuck was thrown through the purple vortex like a plastic bag under a strong breeze and he did it, screaming all the way. The spiralling of the colours around him, combined with the weightless was making him go green on the outside as well as the inside. The purple dissolved into white and Chuck hung in the air. The face of the beautiful blond appeared out of the white light, the same beauty from the picture and the beach. Her eyes were sodden with tears and her face showed a deep sadness that broke Chuck's heart.

"CHUCK! I'm here Chuck. I'm here. I know things have been hard, but I'm not going to give up on us. Come back to me Chuck" pleaded the beautiful blonde.

"I'm here and I'm coming back as soon. If I could only remember who you are." screamed Chuck, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

The beautiful blonde dissolved into blackness which engulfed Chuck's world. Chuck fell to the ground, caught by an unknown person hidden by the darkness. Both of them collapsed into a shelf that Chuck could barely make out in the gloom. Objects that Chuck couldn't discern fell from shelves. One of the object's, a metal and cylindrical landed on top Chucks head causing him to cry out in pain.

"Chuck, you're here, glad you could join me" said the unknown individual whose identity was hidden by the dark.

Chuck immediate recognized the voice of that of the mysterious Doctor. The Doctor helped Chuck to his feet and brushed invisible specs of dirt from his shirt.

"Sorry about the lack of space at the moment. I think we're either in someone's pantry or a Bahloanite secret pleasure cabinet. Fingers crossed for the pantry because I personally do not want to be stuck in the secret pleasure cabinet. That's the trouble with traveling by purple vortex, you never know where you going to end up. Come to think of it, TARDIS travel isn't much better" commented the Doctor.

"I thought you were supposed to be my guide and you know actually know where we are going." critiqued Chuck.

"Of course I know where we're going. This is me showing you the way. I did get us away from those ninja's with the sharp swords" retorted the Doctor.

"Those sharp swords almost skewered me. Even if this is a dream I can imagine that being stabbed in that region of my body would have made me mentally cringe" said Chuck.

"Well funny you should mention that-"

"Oh, oh no, please don't tell that if I get hurt in the dream that I get hurt in real life?" asked Chuck.

The Doctor fixed his bowtie and looked uncomfortable.

"Top of the class Chuck, that generally is the rule, we are playing for high stakes" said the Doctor

"So on top of memory loss I have to contend with possible death. I can handle the memory loss part but I do take exception to being killed in my dreams" complained Chuck.

"Look on the bright side Chuck. I've found the way out" said the Doctor.

The pushed open a door which had been hidden by the darkness. Light streamed in, causing Chuck to shield his eyes. The Doctor, his eyes unaffected by the light, grabbed Chuck and pulled him into the room beyond. The room was a dining/kitchen area, in front of them was a kitchen counter and behind that stood a big wooden dining table. To their left was a small sitting nook with comfy chairs. The kitchen was small and compact like something out of a caravan. The room as a whole had a rather homely feel, with every seat and cooking utensil well used and loved.

"I don't remember this place, and even with the current memory loss I would" wondered Chuck.

"Keep up Chuck; you're not the only person who has dreams. The dreamscape connects everyone past, present and future. Since there is no time, there is no way to measure the passing of minutes or hours. We could be in anyone's dream. Anyone one who existed in the past, currently exists in the present or ever will exist" explained the Doctor.

"I think we've past the believability barrier and past into a whole world of crazy" stated Chuck.

The Doctor smiled and patted Chuck on the back.

"Welcome to the dreamscape, a place where most of the laws of reality don't make sense" said the Doctor.

The Doctor bounded to the centre of the room, dropping to the ground. He placed his ear against the floor, brought a fist up and rapped a knuckle against the floor. He then jumped up and spun around on the spot.

"Yowza" proclaimed the Doctor!

"Yowza" asked a confused Chuck?

"Yes, yowza Chuck, we are on a 22nd century spaceship. If I was a betting man and if I had any money, I'd bet that this ship is a Firefly class" commented the Doctor.

"Ok a Firefly class spaceship, alright" said Chuck cheerfully.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Ok I don't know what a Firefly class is but you clearly do. It shouldn't be that hard to find a missing memory with my trusty guide" said Chuck, looking on the bright side.

The Doctor smiled.

"Ah, good to see you're looking for the silver lining. Let's start exploring" said the Doctor, enthusiastically.

The Doctor clapped his hands and spun around, making straight for the door. There were three exits and the Doctor took the north one but instead of follow the metal corridor turned left down another passage. Chuck dawdled, casting a curious eye over the room before following the Doctor. But the Doctor had disappeared. Chuck walked down the corridor and onto a gangway but the Doctor was nowhere in sight. The metal gangway looked out onto a cargo bay, which was twenty meters below.

"Doctor!" Chuck yelled out to no response.

There was a rustling behind Chuck and he spun around to find nothing.

"Right, this is starting to feel like I'm movie set of Alien. Let's see metal gratings, check. Shadowy metal gangway, check. On a spaceship, check. A nasty feeling of being watch, check. Alright its official, I'm in a sci-fi horror" murmured Chuck, panic and fear boiling underneath the surface.

Chuck turned around and his heart almost jumped out of his chest. In front of him, only a meter away stood a man in a brown coat, with long pants, boots, braces and an old cowboy holster. The man had brown hair and boyish good looks which were currently set in a grimace which projected danger to Chuck in big bright red letters. Chuck only half noticed these things; most of his attention was grabbed by the futuristic revolver that was being point at Chuck's head. Chuck immediately put his hands in the air in surrender.

"Please don't shoot; I'm a rather allergic to bullets. They literally go right through me" stammered Chuck!

"I'm thinkin' you weren't burdened with an overabundance of schooling on life. Otherwise you would have seen those Reavers creeping up behind you" berated the space cowboy.

"What Reavers? AH, you mean those space zombies that are climbing up to eat us" screamed Chuck, as he turned about and spotted the 'Reavers'.

They were men with mutilated faces and raggedy clothes. A nightmare framed in the form of a man.

"I'd be moving out of the way. Not if you want some extra holes in your body" ordered the space cowboy.

Chuck quickly complied and the cowboy opened fire.

**As you may or may not have guessed the Space Cowboy is Mal Reynolds from the TV series Firefly and the movie Serenity **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chuck vs. Dream Chapter 03**

**BlueNeutrino: I'm glad you liked my crossover idea! I have a couple of ideas of where to go next, no Battlestar Galactica I'm afraid but definitely lock in our favourite Rifleman. **

Chapter 03 Dreams are made of this

The cowboy was a good shot; hitting one of the Reaver's squarely in between the eyes as it clawed its way onto the walkway. Its brains spattered like a watermelon making the Reaver slowly slide from the gangway and fall to the cargo bay below. That didn't slow down the five other Reavers climbing close behind. Another shot hit a Reaver in the left hand, which had been reaching out towards Chuck's leg from the underside of the gangway. It caused the Reaver to lose his grip and join its compatriot, broken on the cargo bay floor. A growl and an inhuman scream announced the arrival of two groups of Reavers. The two groups approached from either side of the gangway. Some holding sharp knives, some pointy sticks and others just had dirty fingernails. All of them were rabid, self-mutilated and damn scary to look at. The cowboy fired a couple of shots at the two groups of oncoming Reavers but to no avail. The Reavers just kept coming.

"Ah Mr Space Cowboy, I think it's time we made a tactical withdraw. The kind where we run away from the bloodthirsty monsters" suggested Chuck!

The Cowboy fired a couple more shot before turning on Chuck.

"The name isn't Mr Space Cowboy, its Captain Mal Reynolds and this so happens to be my boat kid. Dohn ma" demanded Mal?

Chuck put both his hands in a calming gesture.

"Hi, I'm not questioning your captainly authority Mr- I mean Captain Reynolds. It's just we are surrounded killer bloodthirsty zombies and that shooting them doesn't seem to be working" complained Chuck.

Chuck was right; although Mal had shot several of the oncoming Reavers, they just kept coming. Mal pulled the trigger and the gun clicked.

"I'm dry, got any rounds Kid" asked Mal?

"Do I have any rounds for your gun? Does it look like I even have a gun" replied Chuck sarcastically.

"You came into my Reaver infested boat without any kind of weapon and you think me stupid" retorted Mal with equal sarcasm.

Mal holstered his gun, just before the Reavers with a battle cry of pure hate charged towards Mal and Chuck.

"That tactical retreat doesn't sound like a half bad idea kid" said Mal.

He grabbed Chuck by the collar and pulled him down the metal staircase onto the cargo bay. Chuck was forced stumbling across the cargo bay narrowly avoiding the two dead Reaver corpses and the gang of Reavers following closely behind. So closely behind, the fear of being caught caused Chuck to find his feet and run slightly ahead of Mal through a pair of metal doors. Away from the cargo bay, that was filled with angry, bloodthirsty Reavers. Mal and Chuck sprinted down a corridor and came out into a sort of lounge room. Mal immediately ran into a side room. Chuck followed, immediately guessing that the cold white sterilized was a type of futuristic sick bay. There was a type of dentist chair at the centre of the room, with all the light focused on that chair. Mal slammed the twin metal doors closed and grabbed a metal stool to jam the doors shut.

"Alright we're trapped in a med bay with army of space zombies keen on making us into a tasty snack, what's the plan" asked Chuck?

"Plan, I was a hoping you had a plan" asked Mal.

"No, why would I have a plan. This isn't my 'boat'" replied Chuck.

"Well it ain't mine anymore" said Mal disparately.

He pointed to a window and Chuck saw that the room outside was filling up with Reavers. They started smashing against the metal door and the window but they were made of sturdy stuff. Mal fumbled in his brown coat and pulled out a single bullet which he slotted into his gun, and then proceeded to point the weapon right at Chuck's forehead.

"Not the gun again, I thought we're past the whole threatening stage and onto the surviving the Reavers stage " stammered Chuck.

"I will ask this only once Kid, who are you? Cause last thing I remember was falling asleep on my bunk and when I sleep, I have nightmares. Sometimes bouts the tian fuhn di fu on Miranda, sometimes bout a valley and in this instance my ship getting overrun by Reavers with only one bullet to spare. Now you're different Kid, I've never seen you before in my life and for some reason, I'm dreaming about you" stated Mal coldly.

"Me, I'm Chuck. Plain old Chuck, I get paid eleven dollars an hour to fix computers" answered Chuck.

Mal stared daggers into Chuck but was interrupted by the screech as the door started to give way as the mass of Reavers pushed against the door

"Well then Chuck, I better be making peace with your maker, cause we're bout to meet him" said Mal, letting his questions go.

Mal knew that the Reavers would tear him apart long before Chuck could stab him in the back and all that would happen is Mal would wake up in his bunk all covered in sweat. Chuck wasn't so calm.

"So you're just giving up Captain? There has to be something we can do" said Chuck.

Chuck started frantically looking with all the drawers and cupboards of the white cabinets, searching for something that could save them. He pulled out first aid kits, pill bottles and needles until Chuck came across something unique. A California license plate with words DEMORGAN printed across its surface in blue capitals.

"What's that? It looks like an Earth-that-was artefact" commented Mal curiously.

Chuck didn't get a chance to reply, he flashed.

_A NSA Colonel with massive frame and a chin seemly carved by Michelangelo himself/ a older man with greying brown mad scientist hair code named Orion, the creator of the Intersect/the nerd herd tech support team/ a small man with dark skin and girly hair/ a fat man with insane hair/ a big man of African descent eating a donut/ a chain of assorted missions and villains/ a rogue CIA faction codenamed FULCRUM/ the resurrection of an old rival/ a wedding ring belonging to the Woodcombe family/ The return of an old Stanford flame/The Cipher, the core of the Intersect computer._

XXXX

In a bubble of reality separate from the dreamscape, two figures watched Mal and Chuck fight for their lives against the Reaver horde. One figure was tall and was hidden in the shadows, while the other stood in the light. The figure in the light was the Doctor and he was agitated, constantly fiddly with his red bowtie.

"This has gone on long enough, I need to go back" demanded the Doctor.

He angrily turned on the man in the shadow, showing his most alien facial expression. It would have had a damaging effect on normal people but to a Guardian of Time it was nothing. To an all-powerful entity like the Guardian of Fantasies and Dreams, mortals were nothing, pawns to be played and sacrificed. The Doctor was his favourite pawn and it amused him to watch the Time Lord strut and posture. The Crystal Guardian turned back to the dreamscape, an amused expression on his face.

"You know the rules Doctor, interference at this stage of the game is forbidden"

"Rules, I never agreed to, rules are not the boss of me" said the Doctor churlishly.

"Come now Doctor, don't make me turn you invisible and mute again. It's awfully boring talking to empty space."

**The translations for the Chinese words **

**Dohn ma- "Understand?"**

**Tian fuhn di fu- "Pandemonium"**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chuck vs. the Dream Chapter 04**

**I've double check my facts for chapter, so everything should be round about canonical. Although feel free to pick out any holes.**

**BlueNeutrino: I hope you like my Castle reference **

Chapter 04 Thank God for MacGyver

Chuck stared blindly at the white wall, letting all his memories fall into place. Memories of Helicopter rides, truth serums, imported meats, hostage situations and a Delorean that was unable to go faster than 40 miles per hour. Chuck's trip down memory lane was interrupted by a metallic screech. The top part of the metal doors had been bent forward from the massive pressure from the horde of Reavers pressing against it. Mutilated and scarred hands reached in, trying to grab at Chuck and Mal.

"I hope you've got somethin kid cos those Reavers look mighty in the mood for raping and eating our entrails" stated Mal.

"Ah rape, you didn't mention that before. It sounds like the kind of thing you should have mentioned" accused Chuck.

"I was a busy dealing with the Reavers. You get awfully anxious when you're under fire" commented Mal.

"It's not the fire, it's everything else. I've had my memory deleted, chased by Ninja's, and then by a horde of Reavers and all of this is in my dreams, so as you can imagine it's been a very trying day" explained Chuck.

Mal thought everything Chuck had just said was ridiculous but no more ridiculous than anything else that was going on.

"I thought my gorram day was bad" replied Mal, eyebrows raised.

The door screeched again and Chuck visible saw the metal bend inwards a fraction. That door wasn't going to last much longer and Chuck needed something. His eyes spun over all the medical utilities and utensils. They stopped on a large oxygen tank.

"Oxygen, oh yes! Final, all those years of MacGyver have paid off" cried Chuck in exclamation.

"What" asked Mal?

"Here" said Chuck, throwing Mal a three litre bottle of medical ethanol.

Mal caught the bottle opened it and took a large swig of the pure alcohol.

"Don't drink it, throw it at the space zombies" instructed Chuck.

Mal didn't hesitate to throw the bottle through the gap in the door and onto Reaver. The bottle shattered in the face of one and the crowd was splattered with medical alcohol. Chuck searched the pile of medical equipment and found the item he was looking for, a plastic box with a number of yellow buttons on the face. There were two plastic pads that were attached to the box by a pair of sturdy wires, which were several feet long. Chuck recognized it as a space age defibrillator, not too dissimilar from the type that Chuck had trained with as a part of the first aid course that he had done with Captain Awesome. The metal door began to crack under pressure of Reavers and Chuck began to work faster. He ripped open a first aid kit and found a roll of medical tape. Chuck then proceeded to tape the defibrillator pads to the compressed oxygen tank. After using a whole roll of tape, Chuck grabbed the oxygen tank and the defibrillator taking it to Mal who was standing near the door.

"It'll take more than that wire to trip up all those Reavers" guessed Mal.

"What, that would be stupid; I just need to throw this tank through the gap. The defibrillator should do the rest" explained Chuck.

Chuck dropped the defibrillator and then with the flick of the wrist, he threw the tank towards the gap in the door. Of course Chuck missed the huge gap and the oxygen tank thudded into the door, rebounding on to the floor. Typical thought Chuck; this was why he and Morgan were always picked last for sport teams.

"I was almost about to be impressed" commented Mal.

"Yeah that was kind of disappointing, FYI I'd forgotten how much I suck at athletics" stated Chuck.

A large metal screech signalled the door beginning to cave in. The door was moments away from crashing open. Mal didn't think, he lunged forward an snatched the oxygen tank and threw it through the gap, narrowly missing the mass of scarred hands reaching out for him. The tank disappeared among the crowd and was ultimately ignored by Reavers, who were more eager for flesh than destruction. Chuck dived for the defibrillator, grabbed it and took cover under one of the infirmary counters, the defibrillator cords stretched tort.

"Get out there Captain, it's gonna blow" yelled Chuck!

Mal had just enough time to leap from the doorway, hit the ground and roll under the counter opposite Chuck before pressed the defib button. The small defibrillator sent out a charge of over thousand volts into the compressed oxygen tank. The electricity coursed through the tank and the enormous heat created by the high voltage caused the oxygen tank to combust. The following explosion literally blew the crowd of Reavers out of existence. The doors of the sick bay, which had already been strained beyond breaking point, burst open. The kinetic force of the explosion knocked the doors out of there frame and crashing into the far wall. Both Chuck and Mal felt a wave of heat which burned the air around them, but the sensation quickly dissipated. The Reavers, they hadn't stood a chance. Those lucky enough to survive the blast with at least two of their limbs intact were set a flame by the medical ethanol as the explosion ignited them. Chuck was the first one to stick his head around the door at the disaster he had caused. The damage to Serenity was negligible, which couldn't be said for the Reavers who had all been reduced to a tangle of burned limbs. Mal walked up behind Chuck, a deep frown on his forehead.

"You blew up my ship, I can't believe you did that" accused Mal.

"I can't believe that worked. I killed people, I don't kill people" said Chuck, half in denial and half in amazement.

Mal's hard look softened at Chuck's apparent distress. The idiot had just saved his life, so Mal was going to cut him a bit of slack.

"The Reavers ain't folk. They ain't even people. Killing all these Reavers was a mercy, for them more than us" stated Mal.

A Reaver half burning, missing both its arms, rose up from the pile of dead. Its teeth were beared, ready to sink into the nearest bit of living flesh. Mal calmly raised his gun and shot the Reaver in the head. He turned back to Chuck, holstering his gun.

"Mercy is the mark of a great man. Compared to you, I suppose I'm just alright" stated Mal, giving Chuck a sardonic smile.

With that Mal turned and walked away from the carnage, Chuck following close behind.

"I'm not the hero type, I mean my girlish scream of terror in the face of danger kind of gives it away" confessed Chuck.

"I'm no hero either, I'm just Captain of this here boat, but there comes a time when every man should aim to misbehave" stated Mal.

Mal reached a top of staircase and stood in the doorway to the Serenity's main dining and living room; the room which Chuck and the Doctor first arrived in. The room was no longer empty but occupied by a group of people who sat at a table. Chuck guessed that they were the crew and they weren't actually here but were apart of Mal's dream. There was a middle age woman with curly hair sitting in the arms of a blond man in a Hawaiian shirt. An old man with his hair done up in a grey ponytail and with a priestly disposition. A young woman in overalls holding hands with a handsome man with pitch black. At their feet sat a girl with long black hair smiling up at the young couple. On the other side of the table sat a big burly man with a goatee, laughing at a joke told by the priestly man. An there was another woman, extremely beautiful. Her eyes lit up when Mal entered the room. Mal joined the group who were clearly enjoying themselves with talk and food while Chuck looked on from the darkness of the doorway. There was a tap on his shoulder and the Doctor appeared behind him.

"Keeping busy I see. Found your memory, saved the day and all that. He can't hear or see us anymore, this is just all apart of Mal's dream" said the Doctor, pointing at the Captain.

"Where were you, I almost got eaten by space zombies" accused Chuck.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I got held up by a rather unsavoury character" apologised the Doctor.

Chuck was about to question the Doctor but his eyes came across the big burly man with a goatee.

"What, isn't that Casey? What's he doing on a spaceship and what's with the goatee" questioned Chuck?

The Doctor chuckled and slapped Chuck on the back.

"Spatial genetic multiplicity, it happens more often than you think. They display the physical and mental traits of an ancestor or sometimes ancestors" explained the Doctor.

"But Casey doesn't have a beard, he hates beards" commented Chuck.

"Well then, one of his ancestors must have liked beards and would have been the proud owner of one. Your Captain friend is also the victim of spatial genetic multiplicity" said the Doctor.

Chucks eyebrows rocketed up in surprise.

"Who was Mal's ancestor, anyone I know" asked Chuck?

"Richard Castle, that New York mystery writer. Writes those Derek Storm and Nikki Heat novels, I've met him once or twice. Him and that very nice Detective Beckett" reported the Doctor, with a reminiscent grin on his face.

Chuck squinted at Mal.

"Oh yeah, he does look like Castle. Although Castle looks older and boyish" said Chuck.

The Doctor smiled and clicked his fingers. A green portal opened up behind them with a flash of light.

"Time to go" said the Doctor.

Chuck followed the Doctor into the vortex.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chuck vs the Dream Chapter 05**

**This chapter is full of action and some references that Chuck fans will greatly appreciate. Please enjoy!**

**BlueNeutrino: Thank you for the review! Sorry for some of the spoilers in this chapter, I couldn't help myself.**

**EMMSM2765: Thank you for the review, I glad you love the concept. I hope you enjoy the story even more.**

Chapter 05 Kung Fu

Having become accustom to the turbulence of the vortex from his previous trip, Chuck could almost relax. The shimmering green was tranquil, almost like being in a forest under a slight breeze. Vortex around Chuck turned white and the face of Chuck's best friend, Morgan Grimes appeared.

"Hi Buddy, it's me Morgan. Of course you know me; we've known each since we were five years old. You really need to wake up. We need you bud, I need my best friend back. Don't give up" demanded Morgan!

The vision faded and Chuck was alone.

XXXX

Back in reality Morgan Grimes stood over Chuck's comatose body. Silent tears began to roll down Morgan's eyes at the fate of his friend. Chuck lay in a bed attached to a life support machine with all his meals fed to him through an IV drip attached to his arm. At Chucks bedside stood a tall brown haired woman in a lab coat.

"That's the second spike in brain activity in the last hour. It's like Chuck's mind is trying to put itself back together" said Chuck's sister Ellie.

"I know I'm grasping at straws but does that I mean he's going to wake" asked Morgan.

Ellie stood up and gave Morgan a mournfully look.

"I don't know. Chuck is in a persistent vegetative state, there shouldn't be this level brain activity at all. He could be waking up or it could be the intersect trying to repair itself. I don't know we just have to wait and see" stated Ellie, almost in tears.

It was killing her, seeing her little brother in the state he was in.

The blond haired male also in a white coat put his arm around Ellie. Dr Devon Woodcombe, known to his friends 'Captain Awesome' embraced his wife as she started to sob on his shoulder. There was a knock and someone stuck there head around the door. It was John Casey; he stared at Chuck with sorrowfully eyes before turning to Morgan.

"Grimes, outside now" ordered Casey!

Morgan followed Casey out of the make shift hospital room onto the main warehouse floor. At the centre of the floor stood the worried forms of beautiful Sarah Walker and the imposing General Beckham. They stood next to a table which was covered in military maps and blueprints.

"What's going on" asked Morgan, tentatively?

General Beckham turned on Morgan, her cold blue eyes boring holes into Chuck's bearded best friend.

"The world is in danger Mister Grimes. We need Chuck Bartowski, we need the Intersect" demanded the General.

XXXX

Whiteness, a blinding whiteness was waiting for Chuck when he arrived at his destination. This was quickly followed by a freezing wind that blew frost into Chuck's eyes. The cold hit him like a physical unstoppable force. Chuck realized that he had arrived slap bang in the middle of a blizzard. Before Chuck could wonder how long it would take him to freeze in the sub zero temperature, warm hands grabbed him and pulled him into a dark cave hidden by the frost. The cave was chilly but not nearly as cold as outside. The stranger, who had dragged Chuck into the cave, used a box of matches to light some wood to start a fire. The light that lit up the cave revealed the stranger to be the Doctor. He was rubbing his hands and stood over a roaring fire.

"Come on Chuck, don't be shy. Don't want the frost to bite" said the Doctor, beckoning Chuck over.

Chuck waddled over to the fire and warmed his extremities.

"I'm so cold right now that I could pass off as a skinny snowman. Why did we come to Antarctica anyway" shivered Chuck?

The Doctor snorted.

"Antarctica, no no no no. We're on top of the Himalayas. In late December judging by the weather" theorized the Doctor.

"Oh great, I'll get out the Christmas tree and the paper hats" retorted Chuck, sarcastically.

"It has been 400 years since I've last been the Himalayas. Which is a shame; I've had quite a history with these mountains. I travelled across them with Marco Polo, searched for yeti, I've even played cricket" remised the Doctor.

"Really, you don't look that old" questioned Chuck?

"An you don't look like Charles Carmichael, Super spy. Looks aren't everything" surmised the Doctor.

"What do you mean super spy? I'm just an asset, I always need Casey to save me every time some super villain hangs me out of a window " exclaimed Chuck!

"You were always more than just an asset. The first day on the job, you defused a bomb and saved hundreds of lives. In your case Chuck, the man was already more than the Intersect" explained the Doctor.

Chuck stormed away, as far as he could in the confines of the small cave and then turned back to the Doctor.

"You know me, you know who I am and you won't tell me" accused Chuck.

"We have never met before today" hedged the Doctor.

"But you know who I am and what memories I'm missing" said Chuck.

The Doctor said nothing. He stared into the fire, his eyes were cold. Frustrated Chuck moved forward but a cracking sound made him stop short. The sound of scraping rock heralded the collapse of the rock floor that Chuck was standing on. The Doctor rushed forward to grab Chuck but was too late. Chuck fell through a dark hole in the floor with the rock and black clay. He fell for a second before hitting the floor and slid down a slippery dark tunnel. Chuck slid and fell out into a small cavern. Winded by his abrupt fall, Chuck lay on the ground dazed. Above him, there was a click and a silver desert eagle pistol was shoved in Chuck's face. Standing above him was a woman wearing a white heavy winter jacket, with a pair of sun goggles and other winter equipment.

"I would advise you not to move. This gun does tend to go off very easy" said the woman calmly with an English accent.

Chuck stayed where he was and managed to croak.

"Who are you"?

"I was about to ask you that and I have the big gun" commented the women.

"Chuck" wheezed Chuck.

"Well Chuck, you don't look armed or dangerous. You I suppose I can let you live. Here" said the Woman, holding out her arm.

Chuck took it and the Women helped him up. The women took off here goggles to reveal a rather beautiful strong faced woman with hazel hair and dark brown eyes.

"My name is Lara by the way. Lara Croft. What brings you to the Himalayas" asked Lara?

"Ah, I'm kind of searching for memory" said Chuck.

"A temple beneath the Himalayas that has been hidden for two thousand years is a rather curious place to search. I mean they do have doctors for that sort of thing" commented Lara.

"Temple? What temple" asked Chuck?

"Look around"

Chuck looked around and noticed for the first time that the cavern was lit by flaming torches that were lodged brackets in the wall. The floor was tiled with grey granite tiles. The only bit of colour in the cavern was at the far wall, was a Buddhist altar. A large statue of the cross legged Buddha stood at the centre which looked to be coated in gold. A red altar surrounded the statue with twin red pillars placed either side of the large statue.

"Wow, very Batman, if Batman was into the Buddhism thing rather than fighting crime. I didn't know Buddhists liked caves" questioned Chuck?

"They don't, this is the hiding place for the Golden Kapala" commented Lara.

"Golden Kapala, is that kind of like the Buddhist holy grail or Ark of the covenant" asked Chuck?

"You could say that. What interests me though is this" stated Lara.

Lara Croft strolled over to the altar and picked up what looked like a golden mask.

"This is the Mask of Alexander, the only one of its kind. But this has to be a fake because the last I heard of the Mask, it was on display in an American Museum. So what is this doing here" questioned Lara?

Chuck caught sight of the solid gold mask, a flattened face of a bearded man was carved onto the surface of the mask. To Chuck's surprise, he flashed on the mask.

_The band name of Jeffster, emblazoned on a black_ _banner. / A wedding reception blown apart by gun fire. / A wedding on the beach; beautiful golden sand, an ocean that shone like diamonds and the joining of two people in matrimony. / The Intersect 2.0/ The rogue faction of the CIA, known only as the Ring. / A CIA training facility in Prague. / A big man with a beard and a cigar, his name was Premier Allejandro Goya of the island nation of Costa Gravas. / A handsome man who could have been a Superman doggleganger; named Special Agent Daniel Shaw. / A trained killer for the Ring built like a wrestler, known as Hugo Panzer. / The beautiful computer genius, Hannah. _

Lara noticed the strange look that came into Chuck's eyes at the sight of the golden mask.

"What is wrong" asked Lara, frowning slightly?

Distracted by Chuck, Lara didn't see a huge man creep out of the darkness and grabbed her from behind. The iron grip of the giant man of Mongolian descent caused Lara to drop her pistol. On reflex she pivoted and threw the giant henchmen to the floor judo style.

"I won't move Lady Croft, because I promise I wouldn't miss" said a male voice from the dark shadows.

A pale caucasian male in a khaki snow jacket emerged from the darkness, a M4 automatic rifle aimed directly at Lara. The pale man had grey hair, a hook nose and green intelligent eyes. Three more heavy henchmen followed the pale man. They like the giant man on the ground in front of Lara; were clearly local mercenaries. All of them armed only with fists and large clubs. The big man who Lara had thrown got to his feet and joined his brothers next to the Pale man. Chuck still stunned by intersect flash, didn't react just stood there.

"Who's you friend Croft" demanded the Pale man?

"Someone I just picked up. I didn't expect you so soon Graves. I thought you took a wrong turn at Istanbul" said Lara, lightly.

"I live to please Lady Croft. I'm afraid to say that the damage from your little sabotage was nominal. You left a very clear trail, straight here" boasted Graves.

"Next time I'll have to be more effective" commented Lara, sarcastically.

While this chat was going on, Chuck memories were aligning into place. Chuck felt removed from the situation like his body was no longer his own. Then a flash of memories exploded in his mind. A flashback that was too powerful to ignore.

XXXX

_Chuck stood in a white room next to a smoking old computer. He was surrounded by henchmen; all of them had their handguns pointed directly at him. He was calm; calm considering Chuck had just made the biggest decision of his entire life. He had chosen to become a spy. Chuck's two handlers stood at the other side of the room nearest to the door. Miles, an ex-special force soldier now turned traitor for the Ring had his gun trained on Casey and the beautiful still unidentified blond woman._

"_You should know this, no one stops us. No one ever has" boasted Miles, a confident smile on his face._

"_Who are you" asked the beautiful blond?_

"_Spies, Agent Walker. The Best" stated Miles._

_Miles pointed his Glock handgun at Agent Walker's head, finger on the trigger. At that moment Chuck had a intersect flash, a flash like he had never felt before. Chuck's muscles tingled as images of martial art moves flew through his mind at a million miles per hour. Both Sarah and Casey noticed Chuck's expression, that wa synonymous with an Intersect flash and so did the surrounding henchmen._

"_Sir, you better look at this" said one of the henchmen, attracting Miles attention before he could pull the trigger on Agent Walker._

_Miles turned to walk over and exam Chuck. _

"_Chuck, did you just flash" asked a worried Agent Walker?_

"_He uploaded it" concluded Miles._

"_Oh...Chuck me" exclaimed Casey!_

_Miles didn't even need to think, he just gave an order._

"_Kill him"._

_But Chuck was ready for them. Before the henchmen could fire, Chuck in one swift movement knocked all the guns from the henchmen's hands. The guns clattered to the floor._

XXXX

The sound of Graves cocking his M4 automatic rifle snapped Chuck back to the present.

"Croft can live. You can kill the male. I don't want dead weight" ordered Graves, to one of his mercenaries.

One of the hulking mercenaries marched over to Chuck, wielding a heavy crowbar.

"No" exclaimed Lara!

With Graves's M4 trained on her, there was nothing Lara could do but watch as the goon levelled the crowbar at Chuck's head, ready to deliver the killing blow. That was when Chuck flashed. Chuck felt the familiar muscle tingling as martial art moves flashed through his mind. When the crowbar came down on Chuck's head, he was ready. He easily dodged the oncoming crowbar and caught it as it came down. Chuck used his grip on the crowbar as leverage to smash his left elbow straight into the mercenary's face. This was followed by the kick, which caused the large mercenary to fall flat on his back for the second time today; although this time he was out cold. Graves turned the M4 on him, but Chuck didn't stand idle. With a jump, Chuck performed series of gymnastic style front flips which covered the ground in between Chuck and Graves in no time. Lara's eyes widened in amazement as Chuck used his momentum to perform a descending axe kick which smashed Graves into the hard floor. This definitely was a turn up for the books; the seemly harmless guy had turned into a living weapon thought Lara. One of the three Mercenary's grabbed Chuck's shoulders from behind. Chuck responded by launching his elbow back into the face of his attacker before throwing a back kick into the Mercenary's stomach. Winded by Chuck's kick, the Mercenary had no defence again the spinning kick which Chuck proceed to smash straight into the mercenary's jaw, knock him to the floor and out for the count. The two remaining mercenaries charged Chuck together. Chuck responded by kicking one of them in the chest and blocking the punch of the other. With one punch he knocked one of the mercenary's out cold and turned his full attention on the mercenary that he had kick out of the way. The last mercenary came at Chuck wielding a small blunt club. The mercenary went into a charge, hoping to overwhelm Chuck. The last Mercenary wasn't so fortunate, Chuck simply dodged to one side. Slamming a karate chop down on the back of the mercenary's neck as the mercenary charged past. The Mercenary just fell to the ground and did not stir. Chuck stared down at his hands and then at the shocked Lara Croft.

"Wow, I know Kung Fu"!


End file.
